PEABODY — No Fourth of July event is complete without an egg toss. The origins of the egg toss game date back to roughly 14th century England.
However, the way they played is not the same way we play today.
The egg toss started when there was only one family with chickens. They encourage the townspeople to go to church by holding an egg throwing festival on Easter. Whoever had the egg at the end of the time got to keep the egg.
These days, people joke about the egg being hard boiled if it doesn’t break. Yet, in the origins of the game, the egg was hard boiled. As the game grew and started to travel outside of England, it morphed into the game we play today.
Peabody’s Ward 4 is no stranger to the egg toss, especially at their Fourth of July event.
“It always gets all over your hands. Someone usually gets it on their face and all over the ground too,” said Ward 4 City Councilor Julie Daigle.
And that’s even with the line of tossers stretching across the Emerson field in Peabody.
Ryan Maguire and Gabe Vondietsch took home this year’s egg toss trophies. Each team had their own approach to the game. Some tossed them high like an air ball while others did more of a line drive. There were even a couple of ground balls in the mix as well.
The runner ups, Mark Scalese and Mike Jackson, said they really didn’t have a plan.
I was trying to catch it to the side of me instead of out in front in case it broke,” said Jackson.
“You have to go with the egg,” said Scalese while swinging his arms down like he was catching an egg.
There is not really much to a simple egg toss besides throwing the egg back and forth to each other with the hope it won’t break. However, going pro is another thing entirely. Yes, one can be a pro at egg toss in a literal sense. There are some pro leagues in England. Such as the World Egg Throwing Federation who have been pushing Sport England to make it a real sport.
The Egg Throwing Federation holds an annual egg throwing championship, where there are five different competitions based around the original egg toss.
Whether you are a pro or hanging out at Peabody’s Ward 4 Fourth of July event, the egg toss is an activity for everyone. As long as you don’t mind getting a little messy.
